A cavern. In the middle, a boiling cauldron. Thunder.
Enter the three WITCHES.

FIRST WITCH

Thrice the brinded cat hath mewed.

SECOND WITCH

Thrice, and once the hedge-pig whined.

THIRD WITCH

Harpier cries, “'Tis time, ’tis
time.”

FIRST WITCH

Round about the cauldron go,

5In the poisoned entrails throw.

Toad, that under cold stone

Days and nights has thirty-one

Sweltered venom sleeping got,

Boil thou first i' th' charmèd
pot.

ALL

10Double, double toil and trouble,

Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

SECOND WITCH

Fillet of a fenny snake,

In the cauldron boil and bake.

Eye of newt and toe of frog,

15Wool of bat and tongue of dog,

Adder’s fork and blind-worm’s sting,

Lizard’s leg and owlet’s wing,

For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

ALL

20Double, double toil and trouble,

Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

A cavern. In the middle, a boiling cauldron. Thunder. The
three WITCHES enter.

FIRST WITCH

The tawny cat has meowed three times.

SECOND WITCH

Three times. And the hedgehog has whined once.

THIRD WITCH

My spirit friend, Harpier, is yelling, “It’s
time, it’s time!”

FIRST WITCH

Dance around the cauldron and throw in the poisoned entrails.
(holding up a toad)
You’ll go in first—a toad that sat under a cold
rock for a month, oozing poison from its pores.

ALL

Double, double toil and trouble,

Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

SECOND WITCH

(holding something up)
We’ll boil you in the cauldron next—a slice of
swamp snake. All the rest of you in too: a newt’s eye, a
frog’s tongue, fur from a bat, a dog’s tongue, the
forked tongue of an adder, the stinger of a burrowing worm, a
lizard’s leg, an owl’s wing. (speaking to the ingredients) Make a
charm to cause powerful trouble, and boil and bubble like a broth of
hell.